Lately I’ve been whining about physical flab, aka weight gain. After overcoming my inner suck monkey the other day and getting out for an unscheduled yet satisfying mid-week 10 miler, I realized that my biggest enemy was the ‘flab’ in my head. Could it be that our lack of mental fitness is the very thing that leads us down the road to physical flab?
This morning after some guided meditation with my friend Baron Baptiste, (Yes. I’m doing guided meditation now. I figure if somebody talks me through it, my mind won’t wander to what I’m going to eat next) I came up with these signs of mental ‘flab’:
- Lack of clear, measurable goals.
- Goals with no action plan/timeframe to achieve them.
- Seat of the pants behavior: lack of planning.
- Procrastination, missed deadlines.
- Waffling on goals/workouts, backing off the original plan (if there ever was one).
- Negative self talk.
- Lack of a Plan B in the event Plan A falls through.
Are you guilty of any of these? Steps for tightening up that mental flab:
- Set a goal. I am the queen of anti-resolutioners. I don’t make them because I don’t keep them. End of story. But I do want to regain some speed and run a decent half marathon this spring so there are my goals.
- Make a plan. If you need help, find a pre-made one and follow it, modify it or hire a coach. Pull workout or dinner ideas out of a fishbowl. I don’t care how you plan, just do it!
- Get organized. Ha! You may know I am no expert at this. After my recent running gear scavenger hunt, I did the mother of all declutters and got all of my running stuff in one place. I’m 3 weeks into weekly dinner planning too. I’m a recovering hot mess.
- Make reaching your goals your first priority. Schedule workouts/goal-related tasks first and everything else goes around them. For me earlier is better. Less chance of life getting in the way.
- Anticipate the suck monkey. Take note of negative, limiting thoughts as they come up and make them pass. My monkey visits often, but because I expect him, I’m better able to overcome the negativity. It becomes kind of entertaining to see the excuses that come up.
- Have responses ready for the suck monkey. When he tells you your workout is ‘too hard’, promise yourself you’ll try the first repeat/lap/mile/whatever. You can always do more than you think.
- Celebrate progress and success! There are no small victories. Each one is a step to something larger and better. If you can do this you can do anything. When you hit milestones (large and small) treat yourself to new gear, a massage, stars on a calendar, etc something you find enjoyable that signifies your progress and accomplishment.
Are you good at setting and reaching goals? Anybody racing this weekend?
I LOVE THIS POST. I’ve been struggling a bit with running in the last month, so this is so timely for me. THANK YOU!
Beautiful! Yes, yes, yes!
Terrific thoughts! I need tomget a respinse ready for my suck monkey. There are certain things where I’m a creature of habit so they are planned by nature. The rest is a hodge podge of doing what I like in the moment. I’m getting there though and making improvements.
My mom always said, “the body achieves what the mind believes” to me and my brother when we were growing up.
I love setting goals, and having a plan to achieve those goals. Right now my biggest mental “flab” is that I am getting fed up with winter so I have some negativity toward running outside, but I still do it.
Great advice! I’m a pretty good goal setter – though I gotta say the suck monkey has been getting the better of me lately! I think it’s weather induced!
First race of the year for me is Sunday 🙂
All great advice, Marcia! I love the “recovering hot mess”. I feel like a hot mess most of the time too, but I’m in recovery mode. I’ve been scheduling out my week, including meals and workouts. It’s been helping!
This post was great and actually for me applies beyond running. Lately I’ve been trying to figure out what I want to do and I think that the same steps you listed for running goals will benefit me in other areas!!
I only set goals for things I truly want and that makes them easier for me to stick to. 🙂 I’m beginning to believe that I need to take my health more seriously… we shall see what works out that way.
wow this totally hit home for me today! I am bookmarking and scheduling time next week to seriously plan out things. I know i’m playing the by the seat of my pants game and then wondering why things are changing. awesome post today.
I love this! I’m a HUGE goal setter which I think comes from skating. 🙂
After reading that I’m convinced that my head is filled with disgusting cellulite. I haven’t set any goals for this year and yet a week ago I almost entered a marathon unprepared. Who does that? I must sit down and nut out some goals for this year.
LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love this post. I can SO relate. I think lack of goals and also too many competing priorities (and burning the candle at both ends) are my main reasons for lack of focus. Ah and the ever present negative self talk. Writing a post on positive affirmations for tomorrow 🙂 so check it out!
Running Austin 1/2 tomorrow! Love Austin. Affirmation #1. I am tougher than these hills!
This is me. All of the above.
I definitely do the “give yourself an out” strategy, and USUALLY once I’m started I’m ok.
Getting creative with workouts has really helped keep me from feeling stale. You should try stroller running. If you think your kids are too big, head to Target and utilize the giant carts 🙂
I raced this weekend :)….and I ate about 80,000 calories after…and I don’t even feel guilt about it!